222: Bad Breath Etiquette: How Do You Tell Someone Without Being Rude? Bad Breath, Cinnamon Candy & The Art of Saying It Kindly

Roula (00:00)
⁓ I found it so serene!

Rosie (00:07)
my chops!

Roula (00:10)
This is how I see you.

Rosie (00:14)
Okay, listeners, we will link somehow this thumbnail. In fact, we'll zoom in on just my face. I want you to message in. Is that image how you see me? You'll have to go on YouTube and actually see what I truly look like. Because to me, that image looks like I am stoned or maybe had some sort of stroke. Whereas Roula says that looks exactly like me. So I need the truth. You can give me your no offense, but.

Roula (00:21)
So. you

Rosie (00:43)
answers. Okay

everybody, I need honesty.

Roula (00:46)
Okay.

All right.

So this is an extra. It's not in the episode. I don't know why you're talking to people. We finished the episode. You confused me. We finished the episode. not listening.

Rosie (00:57)
sure, or we could be at the beginning. Hey? ⁓ I hit record just in

All right. Roula Two episodes ago, you mentioned ever so briefly, bad breath. And I want to talk about it because I think we have all been in a situation where the person we are with has awful breath.

and you have to keep looking away or like blowing air out of your mouth like you're trying to not smell it. What is the etiquette here? You are the etiquette queen. What is the etiquette?

Roula (01:36)
Yeah.

First of all, we must all drink enough water and have a ⁓ mint or chewing gum with us. It's like a must have, I feel. Because we can never avoid not having a bad breath. We can't. It's something we ate.

Rosie (01:59)
Okay.

Okay.

Roula (02:10)
or it's a bacteria that we woke up with, we're tired, we're dehydrated. It can end up, we have sore throat, we're becoming sick. It happens to all of us. It's just impossible not to have a bad breath sometimes. The key is to be ready whenever we want to talk to people close, or in a circle or at a table.

Rosie (02:20)
Okay, it's happened to all of us. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Roula (02:39)
to really check in, do I smell good? I find it important that we check, do I smell good? Am I sweating? Is my breath stinking? And sometimes we say, okay, not sometimes, but you will say, but how do I know if my breath is stinking? Well, you don't need to know. Drink water, take a mint or chewing gum, and just be ready.

Rosie (02:42)
Wow. Wow.

Roula (03:03)
maybe you need no no it's part of my routine I'm even gonna show you this my bag and I have my mint my cinnamon cinnamon candy and I have my cinnamon cinnamon chewing gum

Rosie (03:03)
Is this part of your routine or is this you just saying we should do that?

Yeah.

Cinnamon, wow.

Wow, we don't even have that here!

Roula (03:23)
Yeah, I do. I even have my own tea. So because if I don't feel like drinking water, I just give myself a cup of tea, wherever ⁓ I am, just to make sure I'm smelling fresh.

Rosie (03:29)
huh. Wow.

Wow!

Gosh, I'm impressed.

Roula (03:40)
It's a big thing for me. some people you like so much and then they talk to you and you're like, my god, I can't have this conversation.

Rosie (03:50)
So if I was with you, Roula and my breath stung.

Would you say something?

Roula (04:00)
Yeah. First, I'll ask you, have you had enough water today? Did you drink enough water? Your answer most probably will be, no, probably not. And then I'll tell you, maybe you need to get a glass of water because I can smell your breath. I'm so good at it. I even know if the smell is getting a flu. It's funny you mentioned this topic because

Rosie (04:01)
So how do we do that?

Yeah.

Yeah.

WHAT?!

Roula (04:28)
for me it's I like analyze because it's not that I like it I find it disgusting but yeah mean if you're my friend and I tell you I tell you I offer you a chewing gum and in a joke you will say to me I think Rosie if I offer you a chewing gum or a mint candy yeah and then I will say yes we should not get offended about this

Rosie (04:32)
This is wild.

You

Uh-huh.

Mm-hmm.

It's because my breath stinks.

No offense, but your breath stinks.

Roula (05:01)
So I'm rude. Really. ⁓ We need to get this taboo out of the way that we avoid people, we avoid having a conversation, we get annoyed, defensive, aggressive, we want to run away. And sometimes it's just because the other person have a bad breath.

Rosie (05:14)
Hmm.

Wow, yeah. I, I'm not sure. Well, I have told, I've got a little story. Have told someone their breath stunk, but not as, I don't remember doing it to a friend or anything. So I don't recall doing this. I only know because my sister told me we've got an almost 10 year gap. So I would have been 18, 19, should have been eight or nine. And apparently I just said, my

Roula (05:26)
Okay.

Rosie (05:50)
God, your breath stinks. Like that's, I just said

that. And my sister shared this with me recently. She said, I have been paranoid about my breath ever since you said that. And I went, my God. I said, I don't even remember saying that. I am so sorry. Like I don't think I went about that the right way at all. And I don't even remember doing it. So I said it without even having a second thought. No big deal.

Roula (06:02)
Wow! Hello.

You helped me make sense. Why am I so self-conscious about bread-breath? I also grew up in a household with my parents, my sisters, my brother, where there were these remarks like, Roula, your... je stink uit je mond your breath stinks. I didn't even say it in Arabic. I said it in Dutch. How weird my brains were. Yeah. ⁓ Maybe this is why.

Rosie (06:24)
Mmm.

Wow.

Wow, that is weird. Wow.

Roula (06:48)
And in the morning, for example, when my son jumped in bed with us, I never talk straight to his face because I'm sparing him this horrible smell, poor thing. Yeah. And he does the same. He noticed, he noticed. And I tell him, you know, I love our morning cuddle, but I'm not going to speak in your that I'm going to turn my face to speak.

Rosie (06:55)
Yeah.

Mmm.

Morning breath is terrible, isn't it? ⁓ yeah, it's the worst. Yeah.

Yeah.

really considerate. Now what if it's somebody, what if it's an acquaintance, like you're not friends with them, you're not close, but you sort of know this person. Would you say anything then?

Roula (07:30)
I definitely offer them a mint or a cinnamon candy. Yeah, yeah. Glass of water, a mint. I'll take action because if I want to continue the conversation, I have to feel comfortable because I really feel like it's it's I'm in a I'm in the smelly cloud.

Rosie (07:33)
Okay, so you wouldn't tell them their breath stinks, but you'd offer them a... Yeah, okay. Yeah, that's so cool.

That's awful, isn't it? It is awful. Yeah. Now I feel like brushing my teeth.

Roula (07:54)
Mm. ⁓

so I do recommend the cinnamon what do call them these little things cinnamon no not chewing gum candy no no it's a small hard thing that you just suck on it

Rosie (08:08)
chewing gum or like a yeah over here we tend we call candy is it chewy it's a hard lolly okay

we call them lollies in Australia but yeah candy lollies what I have never seen a cinnamon lolly maybe it exists ⁓ does it taste like real cinnamon or is it sweet

Roula (08:28)
Yeah. Oh, you know, they're not only nice for you.

Yes, they're a little bit spicy. And you know what I noticed with cinnamon is that it's not only giving you a nice breath. The person will smell something nice and they wouldn't know where is it coming from.

Rosie (08:49)
No, I wouldn't think it was something you'd eaten.

Roula (08:53)
Exactly. So you feel like there is a nice smell, but it's just the candy that just is or the whatever you're sucking on. Not the candy, not the lolly.

Rosie (08:53)
Yeah.

I need

you to send me some. need to check if they're gluten free. I need some because I'm not imagining a pleasurable flavor.

Roula (09:07)
⁓

It's this, they are so small like an ecstasy pill and pink. Yeah.

Rosie (09:14)
that's timing. Yeah.

Wow! And you're eating one right now. And then it comes as chewing gum as well.

Roula (09:25)
Yeah.

Yes, different brand.

Rosie (09:28)
Wow. Different brand. Wow. Okay.

This is fascinating. I'm now imagining a just soft cinnamon undertones as I talk to you. Do you ever get sick of that flavor?

Roula (09:42)
Never. It's so good, but you have to like it. Like I don't like experiment. Find your taste. It's good. It's strawberry. You wanted to say something.

Rosie (09:43)
Wow.

Yeah I need to, I really, yeah because when I think of a mint or a chewing gum that's what I think of. Meat like spearmint, peppermint, minty flavour. here's a

⁓ yes, that's true. Yes. Is your toothpaste

similar? ⁓ silly. I can't talk. Is your toothpaste cinnamon flavoured? Does that exist? Would you use cinnamon flavoured toothpaste?

Roula (10:13)
No.

Never thought of it. I don't know. But I'm going to check it out to see if it exists. you

Rosie (10:20)
Yeah

Ha

learned something about you. This is fascinating. And I'm just forever going to be trying to imagine what a cinnamon candy or lolly or chewing gum tastes like and I can't wrap my head around it.

Roula (10:37)
I do have a package to send you but I forgot where I put the gift and I've been since before Christmas searching for it. Dear listeners, this is out of the topic but I'm gonna tell you a story. I wanted to send a package to Australia to Rosie that it should arrive with Christmas. I even have the card written for you, Christmas card. Everything is here, only the essential gift. I completely forgot where I put it and I never sent you the package.

Rosie (10:58)
my God.

Maybe I'll get it in time for Christmas

at the end of the year. Next Christmas. ⁓

Roula (11:09)
Maybe. Yeah,

I'll save the film for the end of the year.

Rosie (11:16)
but I'm not the only forgetful one around here.

Roula (11:18)
No, no, it's more me than you. ⁓ So that's it about bad breath. Okay, yes. Don't forget.

Rosie (11:22)
Ugh.

Yeah. And go look at the photo of me. Maybe we should make it the thumbnail of this episode. Tell me if that really is what I look like. You'll need to go on YouTube to see what I truly look like and you can tell me. But that is how Roula sees me. So this is interesting.

Roula (11:46)
Thank you so much for listening to us. Bye.